Natalie Wood's husband snubs new death probe

Hollywood icon Natalie Wood’s husband has declined to talk to detectives who have re-opened a probe into his wife’s mystery 1981 death, saying he has already answered all questions.

A lawyer for 82-year-old actor Robert Wagner said those seeking to challenge the original finding of accidental death by drowning were trying to “exploit and sensationalize” the 30th anniversary of her passing.

“Mr. Wagner has fully cooperated over the last 30 years in the investigation of the accidental drowning of his wife in 1981,” said Blair Berk, attorney for the Wagner family, in a statement.

“Mr. Wagner has been interviewed on multiple occasions by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and answered every single question asked of him by detectives during those interviews.”

The comments came after an updated coroner’s report this week changed the cause of death to “drowning and other undetermined factors” and said she may have ended up in the sea in a “non-volitional” manner.

The “West Side Story” and “Rebel Without a Cause” star drowned on the night of November 29, 1981 off California’s Catalina Island, after an evening of drinking and eating with her husband and actor Christopher Walken.

Her “accidental” death at age 43 has long been a Hollywood mystery — but was thought to have been laid to rest until a November 2011 surprise announcement that police were reviving the probe.

Questions were raised by Dennis Davern, captain of the couple’s boat. He co-wrote a 2009 book about the mystery, saying the couple had a fierce argument shortly before she vanished, and that Wagner then delayed a search.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman John Corina said Wagner is the only person on the boat at the time Wood drowned not to speak to detectives assigned to the new examination.

More 100 witnesses have been interviewed since the investigation was re-opened, he said.

“We reached out through his attorney and got rebuffed. We went to his home and he refused to talk us and we sent him a letter, so I say it is fair to say he has declined to be interviewed, repeatedly,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

In his statement, Wagner’s family lawyer said the re-opened probe was “unfortunately prompted by those seeking to exploit and sensationalize the 30th anniversary of the death of his wife and their mother.”

“After 30 years, neither Mr. Wagner nor his daughters have any new information to add to this latest investigation.”

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